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Links of the week – standing desks, MOOCs, and the dark side of DH

After a long hiatus, ivrytwr is back. As it turns out Christmas, New Years, and moving to a new city are all very bad for my productivity levels. But now that I’ve been living in London (Ontario) for two weeks now, I’m starting to get back into the swing of things. This means that ivrytwr will be resuming its regular schedule. I’ll post more about moving, my impressions of London, and what this all means for the future of the site later this week.

Now let’s kick off the first ‘links of the week’ for 2013!

1. 15 Ideas to Buy or Build Your Perfect Standing Desk – After a year of a jobs which involved copious amounts of sitting, I’ve resolved to sit less in 2013. One way I’m attempting to spend more time on my feet is by ditching my office chair and using a standing desk. For those unfamiliar with the concept, a standing desk is just like a normal sitting desk, but raised up higher, thus eliminating the need for a chair. If this concept sounding intriguing, check out this link featuring 15 ideas for building and/or buying a standing desk of your very own. Look for a post later this week detailing how I built my first standing desk.

2. MOOCMOOC – Last week marked the return of MOOCMOOC, the Massively Online Open Course about Massively Online Open Courses. This online workshop brought together hundreds of people to discuss the future of education and the web. Check out Hybrid Pedagogy’s website for information from the second MOOCMOOC.

3. The Dark Side of the Digital Humanities – The talk by Wendy Hui Kyong Chun at the recent MLA has caused quite a bit of discuss about the digital humanities and the role this discipline (if it even is a discipline) plays in academia. I may write about my thoughts regarding this talk in the near future. While I don’t agree with its author, it is worth reading.

4. 7 Resolutions to Advance Your Career – With the new year comes a new set of resolutions to follow, or as is more often the case, ignore. This article from the Chronicle offers 7 tips for climb further up the ladder of success in 2013. As someone currently looking for a job and applying for further studies, I’m taking this advice to heart.

5. I’ve Been Programming Since I Was 7 – This article by developer Robin Ward reflects on the privilege associated with learning to code at an early age. While fewer barriers exist today when it comes to access to technology, far too many obstacles remain. Robin’s article reminds us why it is so important to nurture children’s natural curiosity and provide them as much educational material as possible.

Well that concludes the first edition of ‘links of the week’ of 2013. This should be an interesting year for ivrytwr. Look for more regular content to resume this week and look for new and exciting changes further down the road.

I hope that you all had a safe and enjoyable year end and I look forward to another year of exploring the ever-changing world of the digital humanities with you all.

About ivrytwr

A blog run by Ryan Hunt (www.ryanalexanderhunt.com) examining the digital and public humanities, technology and education, and how the internet is shaping our society.

Connect with Ryan on twitter (@Ryan__Hunt), or learn more about his attempts to help create Canada's first mobile digital humanities and maker education classroom, the DHMakerBus, on their project blog (www.dhmakerbus.com).